15 ELLE readers vote for their favorite of three new releases that we love: this month, memoirs of childhood—and some odd moms

First, by a nose, is this Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist's quiet, plainsong portrait of his beautiful but troubled mother (who suffered, he now believes, from obsessive-compulsive disorder) and of the hometown that informs his fiction: Gloversville, an upstate New York industrial burg that time (and commerce) forgot.

In his memoir, Elsewhere, bestselling novelist Richard Russo highlights his plight as the only son of an emotionally unstable mother. His honesty should resonate with many readers, highlighting how we all struggle with family challenges that few of us discuss publicly.—Deidra MacLeod, Natick, MA

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Russo explores the term "independence" deeply in this memoir. For his mother, independence meant proving herself as a single mother, but as the two grew older, independence became weighted with relationships, illness, and difficult life decisions. Russo questions what it means to be independent of your family, your hometown, and your past. —Raina Lauren Fields,
Richmond, VA

Russo's strength as a novelist comes through in this story of his own life. The prose is descriptive, the narrative flows well, and his struggle to understand his mother is heart-wrenching. It becomes clear to us that writing this text was a way for Russo to work through all the demons that had plagued him throughout his relationship with his mother, and the guilt he felt for never having realized her illness. A beautiful book. —Joanna Russell Bliss, Atlanta, GA

It is fascinating to see how Russo's upstate New York hometown of Gloversville shaped him, his family, and his work. Raised by a single mother who looked to him to be her "rock," Russo took on her desire to live a bigger life—elsewhere. Their journey led them across the country and back, fueled by her OCD and his dedication to her. An intriguing exploration of the question whether you can go home again, and, even more so, whether you can actually ever really leave. —Lois Alter Mark, San Diego, CA

Richard Russo writes unsentimentally about his childhood in this story of poverty, moving from place to place, and life with his mother who he realizes later suffered from OCD. Anxiety, obsessions, chasing dreams: They both always wanted to be "elsewhere" but were really looking for a way to outrun themselves. —Sharon Walsh, Geneva, NY

This memoir is a beautiful surprise. As a prize-winning novelist, Russo has established an extraordinary literary career, throughout most of which he was also charged with the care of his difficult mother. Russo's discovery after his mother's death that she most likely suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder changed the way in which he saw those challenging moments when she seemed to go crazy. This memoir provides a relatable and lyrical account of dealing with an elderly parent. —Melissa Jackson, Bloomington, IN

This TV newscaster was a wildly successful child actor (as Cassandra Cooper Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie); whatever her tale lacks in literary style, most readers felt, is more than made up for by its stunningly tragic portrayal of how her mother's sociopathic behavior thoroughly destroyed their family.

Little House on the Prairie child star Melissa Francis' devastating memoir reveals a mother who was a far cry from Ma Ingalls—and proves that we never really know what's going on behind the scenes. Francis grew up in a dysfunctional home, dominated by a selfish and ambitious mother who relentlessly pushed her into the spotlight while casting her sister into the dark. The against-all-odds story of how Francis went on to graduate from Harvard and become a successful broadcast journalist is, by turns, harrowing, shocking, and inspiring. Ultimately, it is a celebration of Francis' greatest role: survivor. —Lois Alter Mark, San Diego, CA

While Francis's writing isn't "high literary prose," the tragedies of mental illness, denial, and death are moving. While watching re-runs of favorite TV shows, one often wonders what some of those kids ended up doing with their lives. If you've ever been interested in the high-stakes world of child acting, this memoir is worth a read. —Raina Lauren Fields, Richmond, VA

While narratives of overbearing mothers are not uncommon, Francis's story stands apart for her ability to defy her mother and break the cycle of hurt and control. Knowing that she's had a successful career as a newscaster despite her upbringing gives us hope that it is possible to break free of such problems from childhood and to create an identity outside of such a damaging relationship. —Joanna Russell Bliss, Atlanta, GA

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Melissa Francis' mother's mercurial temper and push for perfection created chaos in her daughters' lives. In her personal story, Francis explains how she became determined to create a new life and be a different type of mother, the kind of parent who wouldn't push her children so hard that they ended up hurt and confused. —Sharon Walsh, Geneva, NY

Francis' memoir is one part industry gossip and one part tragic narrative on the impact that Hollywood had on her life and her family. Though Francis' relationship with her mother and sister provides a compelling story, the occasionally lackluster writing sometimes detracts from the story. Nonetheless, it is hard to put down. —Melissa Jackson, Bloomington, IN

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Francis had a childhood many girls would envy—a Hollywood career with all the material accoutrements that go with it. As she grew and uncovered that her mother had used her to maintain an unsustainable lifestyle, the family began to crumble. While it's impressive that half the family seems to have been able to recover from the deceit of their previous success, the fate of the others proves that the dysfunction of doing anything for improved material circumstances can end in tragedy. —Deidra MacLeod, Natick, MA

Readers embraced this Bedouin-American writer-artist-filmmaker's astonishing account of growing up feeling alien to both her mother's Pacific Northwest and her father's Qatar—but most of them wished for a clearer resolution of this dichotomy than the author could (yet) offer.

As the daughter of an American mother and a Bedouin father, Al-Maria struggles to find her identity and finds herself caught between two cultures as she searches for a home somewhere between the U.S. and the Middle East. The Girl Who Fell to Earth is a funny, touching, and beautifully written story of one woman's journey of self-discovery. —Sharon Walsh, Geneva, NY

Al-Maria's memoir is as dazzling as the constellations in which she sections the book. We're thrown into a very foreign place with rich detail, but Al-Maria makes it familiar by capturing the essence of desire: a rebellious child looking for direction, a moody teen in love, and the desire to know her people and family more intimately. —Raina Lauren Fields, Richmond, VA

Though Al-Maria's tale of being caught between two worlds is compelling, I was left wishing for more analysis of Al-Maria's decision to settle permanently in the Arab world and to identify as an Arab woman. Her later stories of her collegiate interviews of the Bedu people and her struggles against the chauvinism latent in Egyptian society fail to fully resolve themselves into an adequate conclusion for her story. —Joanna Russell Bliss, Atlanta, GA

Feeling like a foreigner with her dad's family in Qatar and not really feeling at home in the States, Al-Maria was a girl without a country. A compelling story, but one filled with many ambiguities that made it difficult for me to emotionally invest in Al-Maria's search for meaning and identity. —Lois Alter Mark, San Diego

Al-Maria comes from a fascinating background, but unfortunately, the 20 or so years she tries to cover in her memoir prove to be too much material for the format. Many interesting stories are left underdeveloped; in the end, I was unable to truly appreciate how Al-Maria became the person she is today. —Deidra MacLeod, Natick, MA

The Girl Who Fell to Earth reads like a fairy tale and is just as riveting. The characters and places in Al-Maria's life are vivid and memorable, her experiences growing up between Qatar and America both alien and familiar. The author's tales of growing up in the Middle East sound surprisingly normal, and readers will recognize their own grandmothers in Al-Maria's Bedouin materfamilias. This story helps bridge the gap between two continents on opposite sides of the world, increasing understanding and familiarity while remaining highly entertaining. —Rose Phillips, Columbus OH